Category Archives: Education

Source: NPSSource: NPSNational Parks will celebrate 100 years of operation by opening their gates to visitors 25-28 August 2016 without an admission charge. National Parks aren’t just pretty places to commune with nature. They’re also sites of national historic interest or local significance, like Paterson’s Great Falls Historical Park and the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Kansas which offers tours and a study guide to honor this legendary amalgam of lawsuits which began in South Carolina but resulted in United States schools becoming segregated throughout the country.

Source: AAEF of the NPS
The National Park Service (NPS) has a special fund set up to honor Black History in America, which supports 26 sites of historical significance:

The mission of the African American Experience Fund of the National Park Foundation is to preserve African American history by supporting education programs in National Parks that celebrate African American history and culture. There are 26 National Parks identified by the African American Experience Fund.

Students of the New York Harbor School’s Professional Diving and Vessel Operations Programs work together to create a billion oyster reef and monitor how it impacts the harbor. The school’s ambitious 1 Billion Oyster Project goal is to introduce 1 billion oysters into New York Harbor, where they will clean the water and create much needed habitat for the restoration of harbor health and a variety of aquatic species.

The program is also going to give huge numbers of students an appreciation for the water that surrounds their city and prepare many for specialized careers that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. Aquatic Program Director Pete Malinowski, explains:

The port employs 300,000 people and only 12% of them went to public school in New York City, so there’s a fundamental disconnect between young people in the city and the water.

The school is situated on Governor’s Island, but Wall Street Journal producer Jeff Bush visited the teams on the water, at the site of an oyster reef they are monitoring. The school’s Co-Founder and President, Murray Fisher, told Bush that as each adult oyster, “filters a gallon of water an hour,” with a billion oysters, “the standing volume of water in New York Harbor could be filtered every 3 days.”

Mark Kurlansky’s book The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell tells about the rise and fall of New York Harbor’s health in relationship to the oyster. According to Kurlansky, all we needed to do to sustain the health of New York Harbor was, continue throwing discarded oyster shells back into the water – because the breakdown of their shells will feed the growth of living oysters. Maybe we’ll be smarter this time around, taking our cue from the success of communities like Olympia, WA.

Maliownski teaches that being a keystone species, oysters “grow on top of each other and build their own habitat.” Oysters attach to each other to create large reefs which in turn, become environments for other species of aquatic life. “In NY Harbor they were the backbone of aquatic life,” Malinowski remarks.

In this video clip, several New York county legislators talk about why they believed it necessary to ban fracking waste from use, storage or transportation across their counties. Since states haven’t shown much willingness to limit fracking or reject its waste, it’s great to see municipalities and county legislators taking action. I have several questions after watching the clip, though:

Are the New York county legislators shown in this clip part of a unified coalition?

How many New York counties have banned fracking waste? Is there a list somewhere?

How do New York county legislators stand on the topic of fracking itself?

Is the position of legislator on the Board of Legislators equivalent to a NJ freeholder?

Green Drinks is about Environmental Justice and Sustainability, not green colored drinks. Green Drinks is just our name! We meet monthly in three north Jersey Environmental Justice (EJ) cities. Our informal gatherings are held in friendly spaces to bring people together to chat over food and provide information about the green and sustainable issues relevant to our lives and communities.

Green Drinks meetings are open: everyone is welcome and there is no admission fee. Discussions are shaped by the attendees who sit around a table chatting together, but each month we propose certain topics to get the conversations/training going. Admission is free. You just pay for the food and drinks you consume at the locations where we meet. We always scout out friendly places with good food at moderate prices. Learn more at greendrinks3.org.

This month we’re returning to Agave but on 03 March 2014 Al-Tariq Best has invited us to meet at FP Youth Outcry’s HUBB Center on Prince Street in Newark.

Discussion themes this month

Winter is the time to plan your garden and start seeds

Big Money in general elections impacts the environment? We’ve partnered with Represent.Us to get rid of it!

RISING WATERS: RAISING CONSCIOUSNESS:A Maldives Activist on the urgency of mobilizing global
climate action
Thurs 30 Jan 2013 | 6pm
Friends Hall at Ramapo College of NJ
505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah NJ 07430Email to get a campus parking pass for this FREE event
We got a taste during Sandy, but what if our whole nation was in danger of being swallowed by the sea? Please Join the Ramapo College Masters in Sustainability Studies and Thilmeeza Hussain, Voice of Women and Climate Wise Women and a Maldives Activist on the urgency of mobilizing global climate action. Rising waters flyer

Nate Briggs of Brown v. Education fame comes to Bergen Community CollegeThu 20 Feb 2014 | 12:30-2 pm
BCC NAACP is bringing Nathaniel Brings to speak at the college for Black History Month. Mr. Briggs’ father was the first signer on the lawsuit that became Brown v Education. He will talk about his family’s experiences, and he’s a fascinating speaker.

People’s Organization for Progress (POP) meets weekly in Newark
The People’s Organization for Progress meets every Thursday | 6:30pm
Abyssinian Baptist Church
224 West Kinney Street, Newark NJ
Special Programs:
THURS 30 Jan Filmmaker Danny Schechter speaks. He wrote the book “Mandiba A-Z” and worked on many documentaries on Mandela and the film (at Abyssinian Baptist)
MON 02 Feb Dr. Cornel West at
Bethany Baptist Church
275 West Market Street, Newark NJ

Sign to stop elephant slaughter
More than 30,000 elephants were slaughtered last year for their tusks, which are used to make ivory trinkets and carvings, which are sold in black markets around the world, including in the US. But it’s important to stop this illegal trade. There may be only 250,000 elephants left in the wild. Sign to show you care!

Donate your junked cellphone to a victim of domestic violence
1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence. You can help change that. Just mail in a junked cell phone by Thursday, January 9. It’ll raise funds to help survivors of domestic violence.

What Is Shore Bowl?
The Shore Bowl is a regional academic competition for high school students in NJ, NY, and PA that focuses on ocean-related topics. These topics include the biology, chemistry, physics and geology of the ocean, as well as navigation, geography, and related history and literature. The Shore Bowl will be one of 25 regional competitions hosted around the country. The winners of each regional competition will travel to Seattle, WA to compete in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl. Prizes will be awarded to the top teams at both the regional and national levels.

Check back for updates.Newark-Montclair Urban Teacher Residency – Apply through 3/15
The Newark-Montclair Urban Teacher Residency is an innovative Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program offered at Montclair State University in partnership with the Newark Public Schools. Participants will receive free tuition and a $26,000 stipend. A 3-year teaching commitment is required.

Using an interactive format, we will explore issues that threaten Newark children and identify concrete next steps that we, as a community, can take. We will focus on two broad areas – child and maternal health and early literacy. Special guests include Newark’s Branch Brook Elementary Principal Joseph Cullen, whose students achieve well above city and state averages on reading tests. The event is free, but you must register to attend. A complimentary breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Online registration will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 5. Registration fee will remain at $80 per person for a full day of educational & inspiring workshops, breakfast, lunch and social reception. Register online today! Registration will also be accepted at the door.

If you live or work in Newark, Rally scholarships are available, thanks to Victoria Foundation. To become eligible: download, fill out and return registration form.

Young Latinos support each other in the areas of career, education, applying for scholarships, civic engagement, sustainability practices and cultural preservation in their communities. Kokokidz meets once or twice a month in Hackensack or another North Jersey town. If you’re a Latino student junior high school through college age, Kokokidz will help you be more effective in your life and learn to make positive change happen in your school and community.

Contacts:
Ivan Wei 201-688-0036 @ivanwei
Luis Ariel Lopez Wei @lalwei

If you’re available as an adult mentor please contact our advisor Kimi Wei on Facebook or Twitter to discuss volunteer opportunities.

Community Service: We are looking at different types of community service opportunities. If you have a cause or event you’d like us to engage with please share details.

The meeting will begin with a video chat featuring Bill McKibben of 350.org, followed by a discussion of what actions to do next on the local, state and national levels. Come with ideas and bring friends. The momentum depends on each one of us to act now! For a short capsule of the February 17 Forward on Climate rally event go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=anXE46utpo8

Sponsored by Melanie McDermott, Initiative on Climate and Society, Rutgers University and Tina Weishaus, Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War

The Newark-Montclair Urban Teacher Residency is an innovative Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program offered at Montclair State University in partnership with the Newark Public Schools. Participants will receive free tuition and a $26,000 stipend. A 3-year teaching commitment is required.

SECONDARY MATH AND SCIENCE APPLICATIONS are now being accepted. Final Application Deadline extended till Friday, March 15, 2013.

Residents enroll in full-time graduate coursework each semester (summer sessions included) and participate in summer internships with community based organizations in the city of Newark. Applications are currently being accepted for Secondary level (K-12) subject matter certification in mathematics or a field of science.

A series of events is being held to help clarify steps in the application and admission process:

Eligibility
Candidates must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0;
A conferred Bachelor’s degree prior to beginning the program;
A genuine interest and commitment to urban education; and
Proof of United States citizenship or permanent residency

Overview of N-MUTR Program
Application and admission process
Tips on how to be a successful applicant
Praxis II exam (upcoming dates and deadlines)
Tips for completing the application by the deadline
Common mistakes in the application process
Review of Frequently Asked Questions

Graduate School Open House
Date: Sunday, February 10, 2013
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm: Breakout Session
1:00pm-2:00pm: Graduate Program Fair
Location: University Hall, First Floor

Program Overview
Calling Math and Science majors with a commitment to teaching and a strong interest in urban education to apply!

The N-MUTR offers full Montclair State University tuition plus a living stipend of up to $26,000 for this twelve month program.

*Additional funds are available to those who qualify through the Federal TEACH grant program.
*The N-MUTR requires a commitment of 3 years teaching in the Newark Public Schools after completing the program. Graduates participate in an induction program to support their development as teachers in their first 3 years as teachers.

In October, Green Drinks receives a mini-grant from Global Exchange

Global Exchange’s Elect Democracy campaign knows that local grassroots power is what will eventually halt Wall Street’s destructive greed. We also know that every penny counts in our communities, so we want to help support *your* local organizing efforts by offering you a $60 mini-grant (to bring) people together to eat, talk, and build relationships of support and understanding … We hope this grant will be a small boost for groups (whose members are) impacted by foreclosure, student debt, and limited social services (and that the connections we help to) create are important and lasting.

Newark Green drinks

Wednesday, 03 October 2012 6:30-8:30pm
Rio Rodizio Restaurant – in the lounge to the left as you walk in
1034 McCarter Highway (Route 21), Newark NJ
Meets 1st Mondays at Rio Rodizio Newark except on major holidays. (This month we’ve switched to first Wednesday due to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and we’re wrapping up a bit earlier than usual so people can watch the presidential debate at 9pm.)

Paterson-Clifton Green Drinks

Engage with us

Green Drinks 3 http://greendrinks3.org/
Like us on Facebook https://www.fb.com/thegreenwei/
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/greenwei
862-203-8814

99% SPRING GROUP MEMBERS are welcome at all of our Green Drinks meetings.

Volunteers needed for voter registration & Get Out The Vote activitiesHigh-demand locations
Bergen Community College, Paramus NJ 10am-5pm every day through Oct 16.
Hackensack Street Fair: Saturday, October 6 10am-4pm

If you can volunteer or know of a location where people are needed, please reach out

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Help Protect National Forests
America’s national forests provide essential habitat for lynx, grizzlies and other wildlife — and clean water for millions of Americans. Yet new rules could threaten the sanctity of these special places, paving the way for more logging and more destructive development on our national forests. Help protect these special places. Sign the petition online at: http://dfnd.us/vYt93D

Stride Rite of Wyckoff is accepting worn/used shoes, children’s and adults for donation. All donations are sent to Haiti. We have received hundreds of pairs of shoes to date, but the need is much greater.

The speakers for this event series are all key players from Civil Society Organizations and from the United Nations, collectively engaged in planning for a post-Rio+20 future. The purpose of the workshop series is to lay out the framework for a road map to plan for a Global Citizens Movement to help us move beyond the major United Nations Rio+20 conference held earlier this year in June.

In this intensive workshop, the many dimensions of the UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro will be explored, and a coherent path forward will be charted.

As you may be aware, by most conventional accounts, Rio+20 was at least a disappointment, if not a failure. We argue that real, path-breaking, and innovative solutions began to emerge from the grassroots level out, and we will present many dimensions of these solutions, as well as strategize a way forward into a more sustainable future.

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Support the Ramapough Indians: tell the EPA to clean up Ford’s mess in Ringwood.

Journalist Jan Barry started the research on the tragic and intentional pollution of a housing development which was home to members of a tribe of Ramapough Indians in Ringwood, NJ, and collaborated with HBO to create Mann v. Ford, a moving documentary about the crushing impact this has had on the health of tribe members as well as the water source for the entire region.

The site was prematurely de-listed by the EPA from its Superfund cleanup status, and several years later became the first site to be listed for a second time. Ford has resisted taking responsibility for the poisonous effects on tribe members of the toxic paint sludge it trucked in under cover of nightfall every day for many years, and has also resisted funding the cost of cleanup.

Make sure the EPA knows you support the clean-up of the Ramapough Indians by (Action 1) signing the Change.org petition and (Action 2) sending a letter to the EPA. Petition and sample letter available at

Eco Galleria carries fun or fine items handcrafted by artists from throughout the Americas in many price ranges. Including eco-friendly jewelry, pottery, glass, wood, fiber, watches, bags and more. Call ahead to have your gift boxed, wrapped and ready for pick-up or shop online at http://ecogalleria.com

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Interested in sponsoring Green Drinks? If you have a good cause or service, we have a contact base of about 6000 people we can share your information with. Contact Kimi for information at mailto:kimi@thewei.com or 862-203-8814

On 13 October 2012 from 10-3, hundreds of residential homes and commercial buildings fro Maine to Pennsylvania will invite the public to tour their structures and learn about each property’s sustainability features. The tours are completely free. See a list of tour locations and the annual energy savings (in dollars) which accrues to each. The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association sponsors this annual Green Buildings Open House.